The Power of Virtual Staging for Real Estate Sales

Hauling staging furniture in and out of your listings can take a lot of time and money. Luckily, here at DMD we have a better way to let buyers see the potential of your listing (without the heavy lifting!). 

What are we talking about? Virtual staging!

Another great example of what our virtual staging can look like!!

This trend is becoming more popular among real estate agents in Alaska for good reason - it helps to sell homes faster and for a higher price. 

What Is Virtual Staging? 

Virtual staging, as the name implies, is all done on the computer. Our photographers and editors can add furniture, art, and decor to pictures we take of a listing. Once the photos are finished, buyers can get a glimpse of what their new home might look like. 

Why Use Virtual Staging? 

The statistics say it all:

• Homes that are staged sell 67% faster than homes that are not staged

• 77% of agents believe that staging is beneficial for buyers who want to picture themselves in the home 

• 44% of buyers look online for home listings before they look anywhere else 

Bottom line: buyers love a home that is staged. They also love viewing photos of homes online. Virtual staging enables you to bring them everything they’re looking for - while saving some money, so that you get the most out of each listing.

Specific benefits of virtual staging include: 

Endless Possibilities

Moving furniture in and out of your listing can be tiresome - and once you move it in, you may realize that it doesn’t look quite right. Virtual staging allows you to try out different color schemes, themed rooms, or decor - all without lifting a finger. 

Well, okay, maybe a finger (to push the buttons on the keyboard), but that’s it!

You can instantly change a couch from black to white or add a rug, table, or large piece of artwork. No need to shop or send furniture back to the store!

Saves Time and Money 

A traditional staging costs upwards of $500, and you only get one option. Virtual staging cuts the costs of labor and choosing furniture in half - literally. 

Most real estate agents don’t pay over $250 to have high-quality photos filled with beautiful furniture and exciting decor that sticks in the minds of buyers. 

Moves Buyers Farther Along in the Process

Virtual staging speeds up the home buying process because buyers can already see themselves in the home when you have customized the virtual staging to their taste level. 38% are more willing to physically visit the location and walk through a home if it was staged online (versus not staged). 

What about here in Alaska specifically, where so many homes are sold without the buyer ever visiting in person? Virtual staging matters even more. One in four realtors reported that the time it took to sell a home greatly decreased once the home was staged. 

High-quality marketing materials for a low price that will get your homes sold fast? Sounds like a win to us. 

Learn more about our virtual staging services and how we can help you implement this strategy on your next listing. 

Could Your Next Client Come from an Alaskan Cruise Ship?

While the Alaska real estate market continues to hold steady, industry growth has been moderate in large part due to the state-wide recession over the last few years. 

Economic officials do expect stronger numbers over the next 24 months, but what can local-area real estate agents do right now to bridge the gap? 

We believe one potential revenue stream worth exploring is Alaskan cruise visitors. While other areas of our economy are struggling, cruise tourism in the state is positively booming. 

How can this potentially help you? Let’s take a look at what is happening with the cruise industry here and how that might help your sales strategy.

Just How Big Is Alaska Cruise Tourism? 

Right now Juneau, Sitka, Skagway, Seward, and Valdez are the primary ports of call, but the powers that be are working double time on opening more. Some stats:

• 1.3 million tourists arrive in Alaska by cruise ship every year.

• Juneau alone has experienced a 50-percent increase in cruise travelers.

• Alaska Journal says, “Not only are more ships coming to Alaska, [but] the ships are getting larger.”

What’s more, the top three activities cruise ship tourists engage in when they arrive are eating at restaurants, buying souvenirs… and going on guided tours. Other research has found that a significant number of people search for homes in the place they’re vacationing.

It just so happens that guided home tours are your specialty. So, what if you created a dream listing tour for cruise passengers? You might even be able to get cruise lines to promote it as an excursion.  

Create a Dream Real Estate Tour Excursion

With a well thought out route, we believe this could really be something higher-end cruise passengers will find entertaining. 

Here are a couple of thought starters for developing a dream real estate tour excursion:

• Only include your most spectacular properties on the tour, and focus on making the experience entertaining. 

• Work with the cruise lines that dock nearest to your property listings. Find out what local businesses they are already partnering with and recommending. 

• Depending on port time, you could choose to include a breakfast or lunch catered by a local restaurant on your very best balcony or patio. 

• While your captive group audience is enjoying a meal at your exclusive luxury real estate location, provide a beautiful brochure with this and other properties not included on the tour. 

You likely already know that a good number of Alaska real estate transactions actually happen online and long-distance. However, we think talking directly with a live cruise ship audience is a great opportunity to build real excitement about having access to this surrounding beauty all year. 

Once you have a general outline of what you want to do, you’ll want to seek out the right partnerships to bring the idea to fruition. 

Pitch Your Excursion and Negotiate Tour Terms

Once you have everyone on board, negotiate with your partners on how to best make the tour happen. Choose a few key partners and properties and share your out-of-the-box marketing plan with them. This will also give you a headstart on promotions.

Before you sit down with anyone involved, though, you’ll need a professional mock-up of your excursion ideas and promotional tools. DMD can partner with you in creating many of these materials to help you snare the high-end partnerships you need to make the idea a success.

A New Twist on the Open House Pitch

There are so many directions you can go with your promotional efforts - on each ship, around town, and inside your partnering businesses. But ultimately, you should think of this dream excursion tour as nothing more than a new twist on holding an open house. The difference is that you will know ahead of time how many people will attend. 

Thousands of tourists are docking and flocking into your real estate territories every day. Taking time to understand your cruise ship audience could provide you returns in spades. 

Moreover, once local residents catch wind of your “in” with this captive audience, those with properties to sell are going to flock to you. 

If you’re interested in talking through how we think we can help make your dream tour come true, reach out! 

Take Your Home Staging Up a Notch: Partner With Local Brands

Here at DMD, this is something we’ve seen over and over again working with our realtor clients: spending a few hundred dollars to stage the homes you’re selling is a wise investment - it can increase a home’s value by up to 5%.

Something else we’ve learned? You don’t have to break the bank to stage a home. The median dollar value spent on staging homes in 2019 was $400. 

That’s not a budget-buster, but DMD knows how you can save even more - and make your home staging more special.

How? By partnering with local Alaskan brands.

Why Should You Partner With Local Brands To Stage Homes?

You Can Save Some Cash

Home staging requires furniture, decor, and other items that make the home look livable. Maybe you need a unique entertainment center or kitchen table to help clients picture themselves living in the home. 

All of these items cost money - and they might not be appropriate for every listing. When you partner with local brands to provide furniture or decor for your homes, you won’t have to buy these items (and you can give them back when the staging is over). 

Saving cash to make your home more unique and appealing to buyers? Sounds like a win-win. 

Partnerships Show You Are a Team Player

When you partner with Alaskan brands, you build a network. Within that network are members of the community who can spread the word about your products and services. (Plus, they may want to get the word out about their products being used in your listings!)

The more businesses you partner with, the more of a team player you become in the area where your clients live. 

You’ve Got Options

What brands do you want to partner with? There are plenty of options if you keep your mind open:

• Furniture brands or manufacturers

• Local artists

• Interior designers 

• Music stores (that sell pianos, guitars, drum kits, etc.)

Use beautiful planters from a local potter. Or fill the house with succulents from a local outdoor store. The options are endless!

How to Partner With Local Brands 

Think Outside the Box 

What products will make your homes stand out to buyers? A statue? An antique lampshade? Wacky decorations in the front yard? 

Think of different ways to stage a home to give it the personality that will speak to buyers. Then, reach out to businesses you think may be interested.

What’s In It For Them? 

When local businesses put their products in your homes, they have a unique opportunity to advertise their brand and even sell the staged products. Tell buyers about your partnership and that the art on the walls or the piano in the living room is for sale. Give buyers your partners’ business cards. 

Communicate these opportunities (and your successes) with potential partners. They will be more likely to haul their products into your home if they know they can make a sale or gain new clients. 

Start Looking Now

Don’t wait until you schedule an open house to stage the home. The right decor can seriously enhance the professional photos that you use to advertise the home online. Reach out to brands now before you schedule the photoshoot. 

Want more information about staging and how it can boost the quality of the photos and help you sell properties for more? Reach out to us for more information.